With a focus on making the best functional blade possible, and
mounting it in simple ‘no bells and whistles fittings’ – Cheness Cutlery
are more popular with Japanese Sword Art practitioners than collectors
looking for a ‘pretty art’ sword, though naturally their customer base
also includes a large number of ‘backyard cutting’ sword enthusiasts.

Owned and operated by Paul Chen (not the same Paul Chen as Hanwei),
their most revolutionary and unique concept to date is the use of 9260
Silicon Alloy Spring Steel, creating a range of functional Dojo Katana
that have a solid reputation as the toughest and most durable Japanese
swords on the marketplace.

Price range for Cheness swords is from $149 to $299 maximum.

MAIN PRODUCT LINES

9260 SPRING STEEL MONOTEMPERED KATANA

Cheness swords quickly found its niche with its line of ultra durable
monosteel Katana, Wakizashi and Ko-Katana (Wakizashi length blades with
Katana length handles). These blades are easily the toughest and most
durable swords on the market, able to be bent up to 90 degrees without
taking a set (permanent bend) yet still feel as stiff as a normal
Japanese sword should and have a thick ‘hira niku’ profile, making for
heavy duty swords that cut well above any other swords in this price
range.

9260 SPRING STEEL SPECIALIZED BLADES

The success of the original line of 9260 Daisho spurred Cheness to delve
into niches that the ‘big boys’ usually ignore – such as O-Katana, the
SGC (Specialized Goza Cutters) and the Oniyuri Bujinkan Katana
(Shinobigata/Ninjato). These unique ‘semi custom’ swords have been very
well received by taller practitioners, at cutting competitions and by
members of the Bujinkan Federation.

TRADITIONAL KATANA

While their focus is primarily on Dojo cutters, Cheness have not ignored
the casual collector – with several blades including the Laminated Higo
Katana, the folded Kochou and the Differentially Hardened Kanbai. Most
of these have been phased out (though the folded Kochou is still
available) – however there was one Differentially Hardened Katana, the
KAZE (made from 9260 Spring Steel!) that is perhaps their most popular
sword to date – primarily due to it being as strong and effective as
traditional Katana twice the price and its a beautiful natural hamon.

NON-SHARPENED IAITO

Easily the lowest priced iaito on the market, Cheness Cutleries range of
non-sharpened training swords are exceptionally popular with dojos
around the world and make an excellent alternative to the standard
(rather lightweight) zinc alloy swords typically used for dojo practice.
Weighing as much a real Katana, the general consensus is that these
swords are seriously under-priced and could be sold for double the
current price and still be considered to be a good deal.

HOW THEY ARE MADE

Cheness Cutlery swords are all hand made, unlike most other production
Katana in this price range which make heavy use of machinery throughout
the process (often stamping out the blades rather than actually
forging). The amount of time and labor put into each sword is truly
impressive, and Paul Chen from Cheness has been very transparent with
the process as you can see from the video of his forge in action below.

KNOWN ISSUES

As Cheness Cutleries QC concentrates on the integrity of the blade and overall functionality, occasionally
a sword may leave the factory with a few cosmetic marks here and there,
a bit of wood peeking through thin same (ray skin) or worst case
scenario – a slightly rattling tsuba, etc. However, it is extremely rare
that these issues effect the swords primary intended purpose – i.e.
overall functionality.

"We
practice in JSA and use our own swords and have had the guidance of many
generous senseis and develop our own refinement over the years. There
are features that we developed and may not be the same as swords from
other manufacturers. We do not just copy designs, and the swords that we
make are the ones we would buy and use. They may not be suitable for
every practitioners or collectors out there, but are what we would like
at the prices we would pay for ourselves."

There were some reports in the early stages that some of the tsuka
cores were cracked upon disassembling the sword (which Cheness actually
advised their customers to do before using ANY Katana, either from them
or any other Japanese sword manufacturer). How many of these tsukas were
cracked during overzealous disassembly (they are on VERY tightly) or
were misidentified (i.e. all tsukas have a seam down the middle where
the two halves are glued together that ‘looks’ like a crack) has never
been quantified…

Regardless though, as part of their continuing commitment to
producing the best product for the lowest price, Cheness swords now all
sport a new improved hardwood tsuka.

WHERE TO BUY CHENESS CUTLERY

Due to their low margins, in 2011 Cheness Cutlery ceased their wholesale
supply operation and the only other place where they can be purchased
outside of Cheness themselves is right HERE at the Store of our sister site, Sword-Buyers-Guide.com

OFFICIAL SBG REVIEWS

FEATURED REVIEW

Cheness Cutlery Oniyuri

Requested by members of the Bujinkan Federation, this 9260 spring steel sword has a short blade with long handle in a normal length saya and is considered by many experts to be what a Ninja sword may have REALLY been like.

On its own merits, it is a versatile and very durable cutter and we push it to the limits in this destructive review. $249.99